No. 6/6 Baylor WBB to Play for 11th Big 12 Championship Title Sunday vs. #17/20 WVU

Sat Mar 13 18:30:38 CST 2021

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#6/6 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (24-2)
Location: Waco, Texas
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> (La. Tech, 1984)

Roster<https://baylorbears.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/2020-21> | Stats<https://baylorbears.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats> | Game Notes (PDF)<https://baylorbears.com/documents/2021/3/13/BU_WBB_Game_Notes_B12_Finals_WVU_3_14_21.pdf?id=17167>
#6/6 BAYLOR (24-2) vs. #17/20 WEST VIRGINIA (21-5)
March 14, 2021 | Noon | Big 12 Championship Finals
Kansas City, Mo. | Municipal Auditorium (10,116)
[ESPN2]WATCH: ESPN<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/5e124c2d-f165-4a9c-bda2-8022ca36e187#bucketId=24800>2<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/3b874202-6dd7-415f-9d2a-3a4b183f8d65#bucketId=24800>
Talent: Chuckie Kempf (PBP), Brenda VanLengen (Analyst),
                                                    Holly Rowe (Sideline)
RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: ESPN Central Texas<https://listen.streamon.fm/krzi>
Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Analyst)
LIVE STATS: SIDEARM Stats<https://big12sports.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary>

Baylor Social Media: [auto twitter icon] <http://twitter.com/baylorwbb>  [instagram png] <http://instagram.com/baylorwbb>  [Facebook PNG] <http://facebook.com/baylorwbb>
** Due to COVID-19, there will be no physical copies of stats, media almanacs, rosters, please use the following link for MEDIA RESOURCES<http://baylorbea.rs/MediaWBB> **
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#17/20 WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (21-5)
Location: Morgantown, W. Va.
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Mike Carey

Roster<https://wvusports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster> | Stats<https://wvusports.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats> | Game Notes

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BAYLOR AIMS FOR 11TH BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE, 9TH IN LAST 10 TOURNAMENTS
    Baylor will be looking for its 23rd Big 12 Championship combined between regular-season titles and tournament championships Sunday when it faces West Virginia. It marks the 10th-straight title game for Baylor with the Lady Bears' only loss coming in 2017 the Mountaineers. A win would give Baylor 23 titles since its first tournament championship in 2005, and that ties Baylor for the fourth-most since the 2004-05 season and the most in the Power Five.

BAYLOR IN THE FINALS
     The Lady Bears have taken the Big 12 Championship Tournament title in 2005, 2009, 2011-16, 2018-19. Next to Baylor's 10 titles, the next-best total belongs to Oklahoma with four championships.

LADY BEARS IN NATION'S LEAD FOR FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE … AGAIN
     For four-straight years and five since the 2010-11 season, the Baylor Lady Bears have been the NCAA Statistical Champion in Defensive Field Goal Percentage. It took until Feb. 14, but Baylor leads the category again through 25 games at a .319 clip. The Lady Bears also lead the nation in rebound margin (19.3) and Assists Per Game (21.7).

BAYLOR TAKES HOME SEVERAL ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS TO COMPLIMENT 11TH-STRAIGHT REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
     NaLyssa Smith<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10009> was the ninth Lady Bear in Baylor history to pick up Big 12 Player of the Year honors, and she was a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 First Team, the league announced Wednesday. DiJonai Carrington<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10073> was named Big 12 Sixth Person of the Year and continued the trend of graduate transfers at Baylor winning the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. She joined Chloe Jackson (2019) and Te'a Cooper<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=9541> (2020) to become the third-straight winner for Baylor, and Carrington was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.
     DiDi Richards<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10008> and Moon Ursin<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10010> both landed spots on each the All-Big 12 Second Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team while Queen Egbo<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10005> rounded out the Lady Bears' selections on the honorable mention team.

SMITH, RICHARDS NAMED TO NAISMITH/WBCA 'FINAL FIVE' FOR RESPECTIVE NATIONAL POSITION AWARDS
     Baylor's NaLyssa Smith<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10009> and DiDi Richards<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10008> are in strong contention for national awards at their respective positions. Richards, March 1, was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award 'Final Five' list for nation's best point guard while Smith was named to the Katrina McClain Award 'Final Five' for power forwards, March 4. March 5 the position award short lists concluded and fans can vote for their selections at HoopHallAwards.com. Baylor fans can vote Richards and Smith along with their selections at shooting guard, small forward and center through March 19. Award winners will be announced shortly after the 2021 Final Four.

AP POLL RESEARCH SHOWS MULKEY AS ACTIVE LEADER IN TOTAL TOP 25 APPEARANCES AS PLAYER, ASSISTANT AND HEAD COACH
     Longtime women's hoops guru Mel Greenberg put together a list of coaches and players' appearances in the AP Top 25 poll over the years and found that Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> is the NCAA's active leader in appearances at 667 from her time as a player and assistant at Louisiana Tech and her 21-year tenure as head coach at Baylor. She trails only Holly Warlick (693) for most all-time appearances; Warlick played, assisted Pat Summitt and was head coach at Tennessee from 2012-2019.

COVID-19'S EFFECT ON THE LADY BEARS
     Baylor lost four games scheduled for the Preseason WNIT in Waco in November, along with a Thanksgiving week game vs. Oregon in Las Vegas. Baylor lost its top-10 matchup with UConn Jan. 7.
     Moon Ursin<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10010>, lost her grandmother, Ruby Alexander, to the virus in April after a swift and brief battle with COVID. Kamaria McDaniel<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10266>, a transfer from Penn State that is having to sit this season, lost her grandfather, Johnny Webster, Sr., in April as well. Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573>, Jordyn Oliver<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10006>, DiJonai Carrington<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10073> and Caitlin Bickle<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10004> have all had to miss time due to COVID-19 protocols this season.

RICHARDS RETURNS TO FLOOR AFTER SPINAL INJURY, FEATURED ON ESPN'S SPORTSCENTER
     Oct. 24, Moon Ursin<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10010> and DiDi Richards<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10008> collided in mid-air during a practice scrimmage, leaving Ursin with a concussion and Richards with a Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiographic Abnormality (SCIOWRA). Ursin returned to practice after clearing concussion protocol in mid-November while Richards' rehab began immediately after she briefly lost feeling below her knees. Richards was first confined to a walker to assist her in walking, but by mid-November, she was completing individual drills and workouts with medical and strength & conditioning staff. Richards shocked doctors, team medical staff and coaches with the rate of her rehab. Thirty-eight days after the injury, she played 30 minutes off the bench at South Florida Dec. 1. She scored a bucket 13 seconds into her entry, and picked up where she left off last season by leading Baylor with seven assists. Dec. 6 in Fayetteville, Ark., she resumed her starting role, getting her first start at point guard and finished the contest with a game-high eight assists. She led the Big 12 in assists per game in 2019-20, ranked 13th in the nation and had the NCAA's sixth-best assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.9:1.
     Her return to the floor sparked interest from ESPN with Mechelle Voepel writing a feature on her recovery, and Scott Van Pelt led off his Tuesday edition of SportsCenter, covering Richards' return with the "Best Thing I Saw Today" segment.

___________________________________
Kyle Robarts | Associate Director, Athletics Communications (WBB, WTEN)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3042 | C: 254-405-9492

[cid:image008.png at 01D71836.F50A1BE0]<http://baylorbears.com/>
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